The Boom Town That Wasn't: A 1891 Real Estate Pitch
Before the land was logged or the mines were fully opened, developers promised a metropolis on the shores of Lake McMurray—selling 'the coming city' on a dream of coal, timber, and sandstone.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Situated on the main line of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, in Skagit County, Washington; on the shores of beautiful Lake McMurray. Around this beautiful lake stands over 700,000,000 feet of the finest cedar and fir timber in Washington. Under more than 2,000 acres of the land lies a 12-foot vein of pure bituminous coal, which is to be opened and developed in the early spring. On one side of the townsite of Medina lies the largest quarry of the finest sandstone on the Pacific Coast. Two large sawmills are being put up, which together will cut about 100,000 feet every ten hours. Also, a shingle mill of large capacity. We offer rare inducements in the way of bonus to all kinds of manufactories, such as sash and door factories, pail and tub factories, box factories, etc. Medina has the largest depot on the line of the S., L. S. & E. Ry, has a hotel running and several enterprises are about ready to commence business. In fact, Medina is the coming city! Lots are all cleared and are now cheap. Terms—a small cash payment and balance on monthly installments of from $5 to $20 per month.
“In fact, MEDINA IS THE COMING CITY!”
This 1891 advertisement mirrors the eternal cycle of Pacific Northwest land speculation, where 'the coming city' is marketed to eager buyers long before infrastructure is realized. Today, Medina (a name that never stuck for a major town at Lake McMurray) serves as a reminder of how developers used the promise of industry to inflate value, a precursor to the speculative housing markets that continue to shape the region.
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